Pottstown to consider tax deal and much-awaited codes report at March 11 meeting

By
Evan Brandt, The Mercury

Friday, March 8, 2013

POTTSTOWN — Two items which have made headlines in recent months will be on the agenda for action at the March 11 council meeting and both of them have been tied to bringing new businesses (and thus tax revenue) to the borough.

The first, more than three months overdue, is a comprehensive report on the operations in the codes department.

Approved by council on Oct. 9 at a cost not to exceed $33,546, the study was undertaken by Remington, Vernick and Beach, the borough’s engineering consultants.

At the time it was approved, Borough Manager Mark Flanders said the the firm would “bench mark the department and make recommendations for best management practices” that would be issued in a written report.

It was supposed to take 10 weeks.

It has taken 24 weeks.The review has taken on more significance given that a Montgomery County Grand Jury was reported in September to be investigating the codes department.

That news came in the wake of the June arrest of landlord Frank McLaughlin who is charged with installing devices to allow him to by-pass borough water meters and obtain water for many of his properties in Pottstown and West Pottsgrove for free.

More recently, The Mercury reported last month that a borough employee who works in the codes office, Michelle Fry, formerly Michelle Borzick, is being investigated by police for allegedly taking a check from McLaughlin for personal use.

All of which has raised curiosity about the contents of the report, a presentation of which is listed as the first item of new business on the March 11 agenda.

Following closely on the heels of that presentation is a scheduled vote on a proposed extension of a tax abatement program for the former 84 Lumber truss plant on Keystone Boulevard to secure a new business there.

Some council members picked apart the proposed deal at Wednesday night’s council work session, some saying the borough cannot afford to lose the tax revenue and another saying the borough is giving too much away in the deal.

Under the terms, the property tax abatement — made through a program called Keystone Opportunity Zones — would last for 10 years, with no property taxes being paid to the borough, the school district or the county for the first three years.

In the fourth year, 25 percent of the total tax bill with be paid with a 10 percent increment increase in each subsequent year.

At the end of the 10-year period, the borough would receive $41,903 in property taxes out of the potential earnings of more than $108,000 without the abatement, said Flanders.

A favorable vote by council Monday would move the matter to the school board, which stands to lose substantially more revenue than the borough under the agreement.

Should council vote the deal down, it would likely mean that the business — Heritage Coach Company of Conshohocken — would take its hearse and limousine business, and the half dozen jobs it provides — elsewhere because Keystone rules require all three local taxing entities, the borough, the school district and the county, agree to the deal before it can go to the state for approval.

The meeting, at which the public is permitted to speak, begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in the third-floor council chambers in borough hall.